Candidate for president. While on the democratic side, is this the week that Vice President biden decides if hes in or out . And first flakes. Snow sweeps from the midwest to parts of the northeast as the coldest air of the season blankets millions today, monday, october 19th, 2015. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And good morning. Welcome to today on a monday morning. Weve had a dramatic change in the weather. Its 38 degrees in the studio today. Yes, it is. Brisk in here. Not snowing, but its snowing in other parts of the country. This is the time of year where you say oh, its snowing and in january its like oh, its snowing. I know. Well talk more with al about that in a minute and breaking news out of l. A. X. In a minute but first lets start with the escalating war of words between candidates donald trump and jeb bush. At issue, trumps controversial remarks about the 9 11 attacks and then president george w. Bush. Nbc National CorrespondentPeter Alexander has more on all of this. Peter, good morning to you . Hey, matt, good monday morning to you. This line of attacks has clearly infuriated jeb bush, criticized for being too passive and trumps repeated jabs for much of this campaign. This time hes all in defending his brother and taking aim at republican partys frontrunner. This morning feud between donald trump and jeb bush is boiling over, this time a fight over bushs brother and 9 11. I dont want jeb bush to say my brother kept us safe because september 11th was one of the worst days in the history of this country. My brother responded to a crisis, and he did it as you would hope a president would do. He united the country. Reporter the dispute started simmering sglid when you talk about george bush, i mean, say what you want, the World Trade Center came down during his time. Hold on. You cant blame george bush for that. He was president , okay . Dont blame him or dont blame him but he was president. Reporter with sagging poll numbers bush has let himself be tormented by trump, but this time he showed new fire blasting trumps comments as pathtic. Im used to dealing with killers, people that go reporter unleashing this new video ridiculing trumps readiness to be commander in chief and hammering home his point about the former reality tv star. It looks as though hes an actor playing the role of a and it date for president. Mr. Trump talks about things as apprentice. Reporter trump insists 9 11 wouldnt have happened if he had been president. Im extremely, extremely tough on illegal immigration. I believe if i was running those things, doubt those people would have been in the country. Continues. Make no mistake. This was a calculated strategy by jeb bushs team, a Campaign Adviser telling me this morning that the new video we showed you there has been in the can for more than a month. They have been waiting for the right moment to pounce, and take a look at this. Bush is fundraising off the fierce back and forth this morning. This is from his campaigns website enough is enough, it reads, but analysts said time going after trump is time lost and defining yourself for voters and time until the first vote is cast is running low. Peter, thank you. On the democratic signs are there new signs that Vice President joe biden is leading into a entry into the race . That beat this morning. Good morning. Reporter good morning. Sources close to the Vice President say a decision could come any day now and most democrats agree a final answer cant come soon enough w. Havent joe biden nearing a decision, he attended mass sunday speaking out briefly to the press. Although not exactly answering the question on everyones mind. The continuing mystery of joe biden. Joe biden speculation continues. Reporter the Vice President spent most of the weekend with family in delaware, attending his grandkids sporting events but behind the scenes he worked the phone. 9 biggest indicator he may be getting in, a 20minute called with harold schahtberger, the president of the International Association of firefighters and a source close says he knows he can get the political pieces in place and now he just has to make a final gut decision f. Biden joins the race, the unions endorsement would be a big boost from a key consequency. Hello, firefighters. Reporter watching it all, democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton who had court the the same union but failed to lock in their support. Clinton is coming off of a strong week getting a postdebate bump in the polls. Over the weekend she tried to build on that momentum in alabama. Who watched the debate on tuesday . Reporter meanwhile on saturday, the Vice President accepted a human rights award in new york and was met with brief shouts of run, joe, run. Run, joe, run. Reporter he gave no indication about his future plans. Instead paying tribute to his late son beau who encouraged him to run before he passed away. As my son beau used to say, just keep moving forward. Reporter now, as for Hillary Clinton, she takes a break from the trail to prepare for a chrystal test. On thursday she testifies before the Committee Investigating the attack against the u. S. Consulate in benghazi. Biden watching all of it as he deliberates, well aware his window is quickly closing. Savannah, matt. All right, kristen, thank you very much. What is at stake for Hillary Clinton as she prepares to testify before that committee . Reporter well, matt, thats a good question, and the reality is the stakes couldnt be higher for Hillary Clinton. Thats why shes taking the prep time so seriously. If shes does well, she could turn the page not only on questions surrounding her handling. Benghazi attack but also to some extent on the controversially over her emails which shes going to be questioned about as well. Clinton cant afford any missteps or to lose her temper. Youll recall she did that momentarily the last time she testified. Now, as for biden, he could wait to make an announcement until after she testifies, but his supporters are urging him to announce a final decision beforehand arguing he could look calculating if he waits until her testimony, and that could undercut his argument that hes running for his own reasons and not because clinton is somehow a weakened canned day. Matt, savannah, back to you. Kristen, thanks very much. If the president ial race moves forward, we want to let you know that donald trump will be joining us for a live town hall meeting with New Hampshire voters. That is next monday, a week from today, right here on today. Story mention tds at top, the Emergency Landing at l. A. X. Overnight triggered by a dispute between passengers reportedly over a reclining seat. Nbcs tom costello covers aviation for us. Tom, whats this one all about . 2010, 137 passengers on board, and witnesses say one of the passengers tried to put her seat back and the passes jer sitting behind her didnt like that at all. Flight 2010 declaring an emergency. Reporter a Southwest Airlines 737 heading from los angeles to San Francisco forced to make an Emergency Landing sunday evening after an altercation between two passengers. One passenger on the flight tells nbc news that minutes after takeoff a man began choking a woman sitting in front back. She screamed for help, and the crew came to her aid. Shortly after, the pilot radioed back to l. A. X. And returned safely. Evidently weve got two passengers that are in a physical altercation, so we need to get turned around and back to l. A. X. Reporter another witness posting this photo to instagram showing several police cars on the tarmac as the plane arrived. Southwest airlines confirmed the pilot made the Emergency Landing because of a, quote, rapidly escalating situation between two passengers. The airline did not provide further details on the altercation, though witnesses say the man was removed from the flight and detained. The fbi confirms one individual was in fact brought in for questioning after thanks dent, but so far no arrests. Southwest says the remaining 136 passengers arrived in San Francisco about five hours late. Guys, back to you. What an ordeal for them. Tom, thank you. Crazy. Another major story this morning, a Senior Leader of an al qaeda cell has been killed in a u. S. Air strike in syria. Nbc chief Foreign CorrespondentRichard Engel has the latest on this. Richard, good morning. Reporter good morning. His name was sannafi al nasser, a saudi national, someone involved in financing for al qaedas franchise in syria. U. S. Officials confirmed over the weekend that he was killed late last week by a u. S. Air strike in northwest syria. An american official told me that al qaeda has been trying to reinforce its operations in syria, sending in more people, sending in top level organizers like al nasser and that his death could be a blow to efforts by damage to reinforce the operations in syria. There is, however, another way to look at this. There is something of a rivalry going on right now with both the u. S. And russia carrying out air strikes against isis operatives in syria, against al qaeda operatives in syria, and this time this weekend u. S. Officials say it was us, not moscow, that killed this senior al qaeda leader in syria. Matt, savannah, back to you. Richard engel on this story, thanks very much. Here at Home Millions are waking up to the coldest temperatures of the season foe far. I knew it was cold when matt wore a snuggie into the studio this morning. Oh, my. Thats a real treat we all wait for. Ive got to show you some weather video weve got in as snow in upstate new york. Right near my alma mater oswego. Mexico, new york, not too far got 9 inches of snow. Snow stretching from pennsylvania all the way into new england today, but its okay. Things are going to get warmer, all right, so dont get too upset. Lets show you why. The good news is weve got this dome of high pressure. All of it slides to the east. Weve got a return flow of air. Thats warmer air. The jet stream up to the north. Chicago by wednesday is 76 and nashville 78. 30 Million People under some sort of a freeze or frost warning this morning or watch from new haven to cleveland down tohuntsville, but the good news is, look at this. We see a change. Todays highs, anywhere from 5 to 15 degrees below normal. But watch what happens as we get into the week. That return flow of air, new york, 75 by thursday. 74 in norfolk and 76 on thursday. Charlotte will see a temperature of 77. Atlanta, youll get up to 78 degrees, so the good news is you can put the snuggie away. We always know it gets real when you bring in the union sewn with the drop seat. Thats when its really cold. You two going on tour . Were working on our material. All right. A thank you very much. Now fallout to yet another tragedy on the football field. A High School Junior collapsed during a game in texas over the weekend. He was rushed to the hospital and later died. The sixth High School Player to die this year. Nbcs Janet Shamlian is in alto, texas. Janet, good morning to you. Reporter matt, good morning. What happened on the football field here in this town of only about 12100 people is having a ripple impact across the country this morning as a number of schools are now debating the future of their football programs. Just halfway through this years season the number of students who have died playing the game has never been higher. This morning following the tragic death of 16yearold cameron mat theseled question being asked why is this happening so often in the alto everybody was hurt. Reporter 6 foot junior collapsed on the sidelines in the middle of friday nights game after telling teammates he felt dizzy. He was medevaced to the hospital where he died the next day. Officials say he suffered an aneurysm though the exact cause of his death has not been determined. Camerons friends and family are heartbroken but dont believe football is to blame. They feel that if cameron wasnt on the football field, cameron could have been in the car and this would have happened. Reporter mat these is the sixth High School Football player nationwide to die after a game since the school year started. Six players so close to the beginning of the school year is unusual. Last year five died from footballrelated injuries all season. Three deaths a year is the average. In an effort to reduce deaths and injuries, every state now has laws to prevent concussions. Theres a limit of 90 minutes a week of full contact play and at lto high, the coach says theres a trainer at every game. Everybody just automatically assumed that it had to have been a football thing, you know. He never took a shot to the head. It wasnt anything. It was just a it happened on the football field. Reporter those who knew him say Cameron Matthews was a talented athlete, a terrific student and much more. Anybody that has children of their own, thats how you want them to turn out, like cameron. Hes just a great kid, great kid. Reporter grief counselors will be here at school today as students and faculty try to cope with this tragic loss. Matt, back to you. All right. Janet shamlian in texas for us this morning. Thanks very much. To natalie now for the other news of the morning starting in the middle east today. Thats right. Good morning, everyone. Secretary of state john kerry calling on israeli and palestinian leaders to take urgent action to end the violence in israel and the west bank. Nbcs chief global correspondent bill neely is in jerusalem for us this morning. Bill, good morning. Reporter good morning, natalie. Amid more violence, a tragic story this morning of a young man who was waiting at a bus station when this happened. A palestinian grabbed a soldiers gun and opened fire, killing the soldier and injuring five policemen and four others. The crowd thought the young bhoon was eritrean had something to do it. First of all the Security Guard turned on him and a man beat him so badly he later died in the hospital of his injuries. Another example of how the innocent are getting caught up in the fear and the fury here, and a furious argument here today over a concrete wall 15 feet high that israel is building around one arab neighborhood. Palestinians are calling it collective punishment, and its not clear how effective would be in stopping these attacks anyway. Meanwhile, secretary of state john kerry this morning called the violence senseless and called on israeli and palestinian leaders for urgent action. Hell meet them later in the week, but it real isnt clear how much influence he or any of these leaders can have in stopping the killing. Back to you, natalie. All right. Thank you, bill neely in jerusalem, thanks. Major change is on the way when comes to owning drones. If youre thinking of buying one, the government is about to require that you register it with the department of transportation. The new rules will be announced today. The move comes as a number of drones in the nations skies has increased dramatically, leading to close calls with passenger planes, even police helicopters. A wild story this morning from the wild, wild west. At least one person is being treated at an arizona hospital after being shot with bullets tuerk a gun fight reenactment in the town of tombstone. Officials say the skit was supposed to involve blanks, but one of the actors guns fired live rounds during a standoff. An actor is undergoing surgery to remove a bullets. Other rounds struck a bystander whose condition is not known. A driver in texas may face felony charges following this dramatic highway crash in which a car veers into a motorcycle it all of it caught on another riders helmetcam, and you can see the motorcycle approach a group of cars. It tries to pass them and then the van veers right into the motorcycle sending the motorcyclist and the female passenger stumbling. The motorcyclist suffered cuts and the passenger has a broken wrist and arm lacerations. When confronted the driver of the sedan said, quote, i dont care. Texas Highway Patrol now, of course, investigating, and there was extra drama sunday night as new England Patriots faced the Indianapolis Colts for the First Time Since last seasons famous deflategate game and the man at center of the controversial ycontroversy, pats Quarterback Tom Brady had a pretty good game throwing for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns. The colts made a game of it, but it was new england that came out on top, 3427. And, of course, if you havent heard by now the new york mets now leading 21 against the chicago cubs. The National League championship series after sunday nights game right here in new york. The mets didnt waste any time getting on board. Already up 10 in the first inning, Daniel Murphy once again hitting a tworun homer over the wall in right that. Made it 30, and they went on to win by a final of 42. Game three chicago tomorrow night. It is on. 20 lead mets. Back to the future prediction is in jeopardy here. That needs to get going. Thats true. The little clip from the photograph movie back to the future 2. Where they predict the cubs would win. I was there saturday night. It was cold and it was rocking. Snuggie weather, you might say. Gone to the snuggy. Its a theme. Thats your local forecast. How about that, lets show you whats going on right now across the rest of the country. Look for wet weather in the Pacific Northwest and also in the four corners.